My GTO has been hanging around the house for 7months now with a busted up transmission. Finally have the funds to fix it and dont know whether to have Circle D Transmission shop here in Houston build up mine or going with a performabuilt lvl 2 or 3.

I like the idea of a local shop that i can take it to when i need repairs etc and will work with me...if something went wrong with performabuilt id have waiting time, extra labor charges to reinstall, and a possible "blame game" with the trans installers.

Get a breakdown from the local guys, and compare the parts used. If they're up to par, I'd stick local. Any issues would be much easier to deal with since the other guys would want you to ship your trans back.

If it's the same price-wise, take it to the local shop. They all use the same parts anyway with the exception of "proprietary" tweaks. FWIW, I installed a Performabuilt Level 3, and it's holding up fine in the 500 short miles that I've been able to drive my car. Also, the Performabuilt price advertised doesn't require a core - maybe something to consider if Circle D has a core charge. And what's their warranty like? You might also want to consider Century Transmission in Richmond, though I thought they were priced a little on the high side.

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